Abstract
EVIDENCE suggests that exo-electron emission from ionic crystals is associated with colour centres and kindred imperfections which result in energy-levels in the forbidden band of the crystal1. Grunberg and Wright2 found very strong exo-electron emission from abraded aluminium, zinc and magnesium irradiated with light at 4700 Å. The tendency of these elements to form metal excess oxides led Grunberg and Wright to suggest that these may be present in the oxide oxygen ion vacancies occupied by two electrons called, by analogy with the alkali halides, F′-centres. The excitation of the F′-centres by light of 4700 Å. was suggested as an important process in the mechanism of exo-electron emission from metals.
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References
Bohun, A., Czech. J. Phys., 3, 2 (1953).
Grunberg, L., and Wright, K. H. R., Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 232, 423 (1955).
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RAMSEY, J. Exo-electron Emission and the Optical Properties of Oxide-coated Metal Surfaces. Nature 185, 602 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/185602a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/185602a0
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